Information system for industrial vehicles including cyclical recurring vehicle information message

ABSTRACT

An information system for an industrial vehicle comprises an electronic component on the industrial vehicle that is programmably configured to obtain data by communicating across a vehicle network bus of the industrial vehicle with at least one other component of the industrial vehicle. The information system also comprises memory that stores industrial vehicle information according to a mapping specified by a data object model. Moreover, a processor on the industrial vehicle is programmed to repeatedly perform a cyclically recurring operation that extracts at least a portion of the industrial vehicle information stored in the memory device as broadcast information, generates at least one broadcast message representing the extracted broadcast information, and transmits the generated at least one broadcast message on the vehicle network bus. Accordingly, the entire contents of the broadcast information are repeatedly transmitted across the vehicle network bus in a cyclically recurring manner.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/871,001, filed Aug. 30, 2010, entitledINFORMATION SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES INCLUDING CYCLICAL RECURRINGVEHICLE INFORMATION MESSAGE, now allowed, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/238,916, filed on Sep. 1, 2009,entitled INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless strategies may be deployed by business operations, includingfor example, warehousing facilities, distribution centers, retailstores, manufacturing facilities, etc., to improve the efficiency andaccuracy of business operations. Wireless strategies may also bedeployed by such business operations to avoid the effects of constantlyincreasing labor and logistics costs. In a typical wirelessimplementation, workers are linked to a customized software applicationexecuting on a corresponding computer system via a mobile wirelesstransceiver, such as a hand-held device. The wireless transceiver may beused as an interface to the customized software application to directworkers in their tasks, e.g., by instructing workers where and/or how topick, pack, put away, move, stage, process or otherwise manipulate itemswithin the facility. The wireless transceiver may also be used inconjunction with a suitable input device to scan, sense or otherwiseread tags, labels such as barcode labels or other identifiers to trackthe movement of designated items within the facility.

In order to move items about a facility, workers often utilizeindustrial vehicles, including for example, forklift trucks, hand andmotor driven pallet trucks, and/or other materials handling vehicles.However, disruptions in the operation of such industrial vehicles impactthe ability of the management system and corresponding wireless strategyto obtain peak operating efficiency. Moreover, conventional enterprisesoftware, including the above-described customized softwareapplications, do not account for, track, communicate with or otherwiseprovide insight into the availability, health, status or suitability ofthe industrial vehicles to perform the required work. Still further,conventional enterprise software, including corresponding managementsystems, do not provide tools to manage access to, and operation of,industrial vehicles that are available within the facility, in anefficient and integrated manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to various aspects of the present invention, systems, methodsand computer program products are provided, for dynamically generatingindustrial vehicle information for distribution from an industrialvehicle network bus. Industrial vehicle information is dynamicallygenerated by assigning a select component within an industrial vehicleas an information master, where the information master is capable ofdata communication across an industrial vehicle network bus. Theinformation master obtains data from at least one other component thatis connected to the industrial vehicle network bus, and storesindustrial vehicle information based upon the obtained data in a memorydevice accessible by the information master according to a mappingspecified by a data object model.

Further, at least a portion of the memory associated with the dataobject model is designated as broadcast information. Still further, theinformation master repeatedly extracts at least a portion of theinformation stored in the memory designated as broadcast information,generates a broadcast message containing the extracted broadcastinformation and transmits the generated broadcast message on theindustrial vehicle network bus wherein the entire contents of thedesignated broadcast information is eventually transmitted on theindustrial vehicle network bus across a plurality of transmittedbroadcast messages.

According to further aspects of the present disclosure, an informationsystem for an industrial vehicle comprises an electronic component onthe industrial vehicle that is programmably configured to obtain data bycommunicating across a vehicle network bus of the industrial vehiclewith at least one other component of the industrial vehicle. Theinformation system also comprises memory that stores industrial vehicleinformation according to a mapping specified by a data object model,where the industrial vehicle information is based upon the data obtainedby the electronic component. Moreover, a processor on the industrialvehicle is programmed to repeatedly perform a cyclically recurringoperation. The cyclically recurring operation extracts at least aportion of the industrial vehicle information stored in the memorydevice according to the mapping specified by the data object model asbroadcast information, generates at least one broadcast messagerepresenting the extracted broadcast information, and transmits thegenerated at least one broadcast message on the vehicle network bus.Accordingly, the entire contents of the broadcast information arerepeatedly transmitted across the vehicle network bus in a cyclicallyrecurring manner.

According to yet further aspects of the present disclosure, aninformation system for an industrial vehicle comprises an electroniccomponent on the industrial vehicle that is designated as an informationmaster, which is programmably configured to obtain data by communicatingacross a vehicle network bus of the industrial vehicle with at least oneother component of the industrial vehicle. The information system alsocomprises memory that stores industrial vehicle information according toa mapping specified by a data object model, where the industrial vehicleinformation is based upon the data obtained by the electronic component.Moreover, a processor on the industrial vehicle is programmed torepeatedly perform a cyclically recurring operation. The cyclicallyrecurring operation extracts at least a portion of the industrialvehicle information stored in the memory device according to the mappingspecified by the data object model as broadcast information, generatesat least one broadcast message representing the extracted broadcastinformation, and transmits the generated at least one broadcast messageon the vehicle network bus. Accordingly, the entire contents of thebroadcast information are repeatedly transmitted across the vehiclenetwork bus in a cyclically recurring manner. Moreover, each generatedbroadcast message is transmitted based upon a predetermined periodictime interval.

According to still further aspects of the present disclosure, aninformation system for an industrial vehicle comprises an electroniccomponent on the industrial vehicle that is programmably configured toobtain data by communicating across a vehicle network bus of theindustrial vehicle with at least one other component of the industrialvehicle. The information system also comprises memory that storesindustrial vehicle information according to a mapping specified by adata object model, where the industrial vehicle information is basedupon the data obtained by the electronic component. Moreover, aprocessor on the industrial vehicle is programmed to repeatedly performa cyclically recurring operation. The cyclically recurring operationextracts at least a portion of the industrial vehicle information storedin the memory device according to the mapping specified by the dataobject model as broadcast information, generates a plurality ofbroadcast messages that collectively represent the extracted broadcastinformation, and transmits each generated broadcast message on thevehicle network bus. Accordingly, the entire contents of the broadcastinformation are repeatedly transmitted across the vehicle network bus ina cyclically recurring manner. Moreover, a device connected to thevehicle network bus must receive each of the plurality of broadcastmessages in order to reconstruct the entirety of the broadcastinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description of various embodiments of the presentinvention can be best understood when read in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, where like structure is indicated with likereference numerals, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a communication system thatenables wireless communication between mobile industrial vehicles andnetworked computing devices including a server according to variousaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an information linking device capable ofwirelessly communicating data between an industrial vehicle and acorresponding server according to various aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an alternative implementation of aninformation linking device according to further aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of yet another alternative implementation ofan information linking device that is integrated into the electronics ofa corresponding industrial vehicle according to various aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an information linking device andcorresponding vehicle features according to various aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of dynamically generatingindustrial vehicle information for distribution on an industrial vehiclenetwork bus, according to various aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a hybrid flow chart and schematic diagramillustrating two operating modes of an information linking deviceaccording to various aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of an application serverrequesting information from an industrial vehicle according to variousaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary network system thatintegrates communication between an industrial vehicle operating at afirst facility and a remote third party server computer, according tovarious aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary network system thatintegrates communication between an industrial vehicle operating at afirst facility and a remote third party server computer, according tovarious aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of yet another exemplary network systemthat integrates communication between an industrial vehicle operating ata first facility and a remote third party server computer, according tovarious aspects of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of still another exemplary network systemthat integrates communication between an industrial vehicle operating ata first facility and a remote third party server computer, according tovarious aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the detailed description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way ofillustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of various embodiments of thepresent invention.

System Architecture

Aspects of the present invention comprise systems that enable industrialvehicles to wirelessly communicate with one or more softwareapplications, which may be deployed in a computer enterprise and/orwhich may be deployed within a remote computing environment associatedwith a trusted entity, examples of which are described in greater detailherein. Exemplary industrial vehicles may include forklift trucks, reachtrucks, turret trucks, walkie stacker trucks, tow tractors, pallettrucks, and/or other materials handling vehicles. Further aspects of thepresent invention comprise processing systems on-board an industrialvehicle for assembling industrial vehicle information for communicationto sources external to the corresponding industrial vehicle.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, an exemplarycomputing environment 10 is illustrated, which includes components thatsupport wireless communication capabilities. A plurality of industrialvehicles 12, (shown by way of illustration as a fleet of forklift trucksfor convenience of discussion) wirelessly communicate with a processingdevice, such as a server computer. For example, as illustrated, theplurality of industrial vehicles can each communicate with a servercomputer designated herein, as an industrial vehicle application server14. The industrial vehicle application server 14 may further interactwith a data resource 16, e.g., one or more databases, data stores orother sources of information, to facilitate interaction with users ofremote computers and with the industrial vehicles 12 as will bedescribed in greater detail herein.

The computing environment 10 may further support additional processingdevices 18, which may comprise for example, additional server computersprovided to execute other enterprise applications such as email, awarehouse management system (WMS), an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)application, etc.

The additional processing devices 18 may also comprise personalcomputers, notebook computers, transactional systems, appliance orpervasive computing devices such as personal data assistants (PDA), palmcomputers, cellular access processing devices, special purpose computingdevices, network storage devices and/or other devices capable ofinteracting with the computing environment 10. One or more of theprocessing devices 18 may also communicate with the industrial vehicles12 and/or the industrial vehicle application server 14 across thecomputing environment 10.

The wireless communication architecture may be based upon a standardwireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) infrastructure, such as may be deployed usinga standard 802.11 a/b/g wireless network communications protocol.Moreover, communication over the wireless network may utilize securityencryption, such as may be implemented using standard or proprietaryencryption techniques. However, any other suitable wirelesscommunication architecture, communication protocol and/or securitytechniques may alternatively be implemented.

In an exemplary illustrated arrangement, one or more wireless accesspoints 20 are utilized to relay data between a wireless transceiver ofeach of the industrial vehicles 12 and one or more wired devices of thecomputing environment 10, e.g., the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14. The number of access points 20 and the placement thereof maybe determined based upon the specific implementation. For example, in arelatively large site, e.g., a large warehouse, distribution facility,retail outlet, etc., numerous access points 20 may be required toprovide wireless communications coverage across a designated area inwhich the industrial vehicles 12 are to be operated. Correspondingly, incertain circumstances, a single access point 20 may be utilized. Stillfurther, the vehicle systems described more fully herein can function,e.g., to store, log and otherwise collect data and process information,even in the absence of wireless access to an access point 20.

Moreover, the computing environment 10 may be supported by one or morenetworking components 22 that interconnect the various hardware and/orsoftware processing devices, including for example, hubs, routers,firewalls, network interfaces and corresponding interconnections. Theparticular networking components 22 provided in the computingenvironment 10 may thus be selected to support one or more intranets,extranets, local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), wirelessnetworks (Wi-Fi), the Internet, including the world wide web, and/orother arrangements for enabling communication across the computingenvironment 10, either real time or otherwise, e.g., via time shifting,batch processing, etc.

The networking components 22 further allow integration of wirelesscapability of industrial vehicles 12 across an entire enterprise 26 of acorresponding entity, e.g., a fleet operator. As schematicallyillustrated, each enterprise 26 represents a computing system of anindependent entity, such as a warehouse owner, retailer, distributor,manufacturer or other entity that utilizes a fleet or plurality ofindustrial vehicles 12.

As described more fully herein, the fleet of industrial vehicles 12associated with each entity and correspondingly, each enterprise 26, maybe maintained in a single computing environment 10 or the enterprise 26may be organized into a distributed enterprise architecture, forexample, wherein several locally maintained computing environments 10,e.g., distinct physical locations, are connected across a network, suchas a LAN, WAN, the Internet, etc. Thus, each locally maintainedcomputing environment 10 may represent, for example, one physicallocation, e.g., a warehouse, a logical location, e.g., warehouse region,etc., which collectively form an enterprise 26. In this regard, theenterprise 26 may generally provide some form of common network controlor supervision over the associated local computing environments.

As an illustrative example, an entity may have operations includingindustrial vehicles 12 at multiple distinct sites, and may thus operatea plurality of computing environments 10, one computing environmentassociated with each distinct site. However, the various computingsystems within the computing environment 10 at each site may becontrolled by the same entity and may be interconnected, capable ofcommunication or are otherwise integrated into a commonly maintainedenterprise 26. Under this configuration, each distinct site may maintainits own industrial vehicle application server 14, or the enterprise 26,which is comprised of the plurality of computing environments 10, maymanage each distinct site from a centralized location within theenterprise 26.

As such, the industrial vehicle application server 14 need not reside inthe same physical location as the industrial vehicles 12. Rather, datalinks can be set up using combinations of access points 20, networkingcomponents 22 and networks to distribute the fleet of industrialvehicles 12 across the physical locations, e.g., multiple warehousefacilities of the entity enterprise.

One or more computing environments 10 and/or enterprises 26 may furthercommunicate with a remote server computer 30, e.g., across a network 32such as the Internet. The remote server 30 may comprise, for example, anindependently maintained third party server, such a manufacturer serverthat is configurable for interaction with the industrial vehicles 12,the industrial vehicle application server 14 and/or other processingdevices 18 of the computing environment(s) 10. In this regard, eachenterprise 26 may be maintained, for example, by a customer of themanufacturer, who maintains the remote server 30. The remote server 30may further interact with one or more back-end servers 34 and/or dataresource 36, e.g., one or more databases, data stores or other sourcesof information.

As another illustrative example, one or more components of theindustrial vehicle application server 14 and/or data resources 16, e.g.,software components, data, etc., may be co-located at an associatedenterprise 26 and on the remote server 30. Alternatively, one or morecomponents of the industrial vehicle application server 14 and/or dataresources 16, e.g., software components, data, etc., may be distributedbetween an associated enterprise 26 and on the remote server 30. As yetanother illustrative example, the components of the industrial vehicleapplication server 14 and/or data resources 16, e.g., softwarecomponents, data, etc., may be located on the remote server 30.

Thus, depending upon the particular implementation, data processed,gathered, detected, monitored or otherwise wirelessly transmitted byindustrial vehicles 12 may be locally maintained, e.g., by an instanceof the industrial vehicle application server 14. This data may also beshared across distinct physical sites of an enterprise 26. Stillfurther, this data may be shared between sites and/or enterprises 26etc., and remote server(s) 30, or entirely maintained by the remoteserver 30, which may be associated with a trusted third party, such asan industrial vehicle manufacturer. Still further, relevant portions ofthe data may be shared with multiple trusted independent third partyremote servers, e.g. 30, 37.

The present application may further exploit system computerarchitectures as described more fully in patent application Ser. No.11/956,022 (Published as U.S. 2008-0154712 A1) entitled “FleetManagement System”, filed Dec. 13, 2007, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. The present application also herebyincorporates by reference, patent application Ser. No. 11/956,045(Published as U.S. 2008-0154691 A1), entitled “Fleet Management System”filed Dec. 13, 2007, in its entirety. Still further, the presentapplication incorporates by reference, U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.61/166,494, entitled “INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES”, filedApr. 3, 2009, in its entirety.

The Vehicle Interface

Referring to FIG. 2, an information linking device 38A may beimplemented as a “black box” that provides among other features, awireless interface to an associated one of the industrial vehicles 12that the information linking device 38A is installed on. In thisexemplary implementation, the information linking device 38A does notinclude its own display and/or user interface. Rather, as illustrated,the information linking device 38A includes a housing that contains theprocessing electronics (hardware and software) of the informationlinking device 38A. Additionally, the housing supports a set ofconnections to vehicle features, e.g., via a connector 39, whichfacilitates communication with the various components of thecorresponding one of the industrial vehicles 12 as will be described ingreater detail herein.

Referring to FIG. 3, another exemplary implementation of an informationlinking device suitable for installation on the industrial vehicles 12is illustrated, and as such, is designated by the reference numeral 38B.The illustrated information linking device 38B may serve as an interfacethat facilitates interaction with the user at one of the industrialvehicles 12, and is also enabled by hardware and software as will bedescribed in greater detail herein. The information linking device 38Bincludes similar features to the information linking device 38Aillustrated in FIG. 2 and thus includes for example, a connector 39,which is not shown in FIG. 3 but is analogous to the connector 39 ofFIG. 2. Unlike the information linking device 38A however, theinformation linking device 38B also includes a display 41 and controls42 for interacting with an operator.

Referring to FIG. 4, the information linking device may alternatively beintegrated with (built into) a corresponding one of the industrialvehicles 12, and as such, is designated by the reference numeral 38C. Asan example, the information linking device 38C may be integrated into awork area, e.g., a console of an operator's compartment of one of theindustrial vehicles 12. For example, as illustrated, the informationlinking device 38C is integrated directly into existing industrialvehicle features, e.g., by blending the information linking device 38with a display 41A, interface controls 42A, or other electronics alreadylocated within a corresponding one of the industrial vehicles 12. Theinformation linking device 38C may also include features set out anddescribed with reference to FIGS. 2 and/or 3.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4 generally, the information linking device 38A,38B, 38C may further include additional features, such as a readingdevice 43 (illustrated in FIG. 3), e.g., a fob reader, proximity readeror other device for electronically obtaining industrial vehicle operatorlogin information. Unless otherwise specifically stated, referenceherein to an information linking device referenced generally by thenumeral 38 will apply to each of the various implementations describedwith reference to FIGS. 2-4.

Each information linking device 38 is assigned or otherwise derives aunique identifier that is known or made known to a correspondingindustrial vehicle application server 14. Thus, using the knownidentifiers, the industrial vehicle application server 14 may conducttargeted communications with specific industrial vehicle informationlinking devices 38, or broadcast information to groups or all of theindustrial vehicle information linking devices 38 that are associatedwith that industrial vehicle application server 14.

According to an aspect of the present invention, to initiatecommunication between the industrial vehicle application server 14 andan information linking device 38, an acknowledgment sequence isimplemented. For example, the industrial vehicle application server 14may listen for information linking device(s) 38 to identify themselvesas being available for communication with the industrial vehicleapplication server 14. Alternatively, the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14 can send out a request or ping a specific information linkingdevice 38 on one of the industrial vehicles 12. If the pingedinformation linking device 38 responds to the industrial vehicleapplication server 14, an exchange of information between theinformation linking device 38 and the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14 may occur.

Referring to FIG. 5, a block diagram illustrates select features of anexemplary implementation of an information linking device 38 andcorresponding illustrative features of an associated one of theindustrial vehicles 12. The illustrated information linking device 38may comprise an optional display control module 44 for controlling thedisplay 41 if provided, and an optional input/output control module 45that is associated with the controls 42, e.g., for an implementation ofan information linking device 38B, such as that described with referenceto FIG. 3. Correspondingly, the illustrated implementation of theinformation linking device 38A in FIG. 2 may omit the display controlmodule 44 and the input/output control module 45, as this black boxversion does not include a user interface.

The information linking device 38 further comprises a transceiver 46, amonitoring input/output module 48, a wireless communications interfacecontroller 50 and vehicle power enabling/conditioning circuitry 52. Thetransceiver 46 may provide, for example, two-way wireless communicationwith processing devices, including server computers such as theindustrial vehicle application server 14 across the correspondingcomputing environment 10. The monitoring input/output module 48 may beutilized to receive sensor and control inputs and/or to control outputssuch as horns, buzzers, lights and other vehicle components and/ordevices. As just a few exemplary illustrations, the monitoringinput/output module 48 may interface with analog sensors 54, switches56, encoders and other similar input devices 58, impact sensor(s) 60,meter input(s) 62 and any other analog or digital input and/or outputdevices 64 to integrate information from such devices into the wirelesscommunications system associated with the corresponding computingenvironment 10. The monitoring input/output module 48 allows datalogging capabilities which can be used, for example, to monitor travelusage meters, hydraulic usage meters, steering usage meters, operatorusage meters, miscellaneous sensor inputs and other types of vehiclerelated data.

Information detected by the monitoring input/output module 48 may betemporarily stored, collected, maintained, manipulated and/or otherwiseprocessed, e.g., by a processor and corresponding memory in theinterface controller 50 or other suitable processor and memory, whichmay be provided as part of the vehicle electronics. Further, thecollected information may be communicated to a corresponding industrialvehicle application server 14, for example, using the transceiver 46.

The interface controller 50 may comprise a suitable processor, memory,software, resident firmware, etc., to control the functions of theinformation linking device 38 as described more fully herein. Moreover,the processor of the interface controller 50 may be configured tocommunicate with the transceiver 46 for wireless communication across awireless infrastructure of a corresponding computing environment 10 to acorresponding server computer, e.g., the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14. The power enabling/conditioning circuitry 52, whereapplicable, allows power to be provided to the information linkingdevice 38, even when the corresponding industrial vehicle 12 is powereddown. Moreover, the power enabling/conditioning circuitry 52 can be tiedto the vehicle ignition to prevent industrial vehicle startup unlesscertain conditions are met, or to force an industrial vehicle to shutdown, as schematically represented by the switch shown within the boxrepresenting the power enabling/conditioning circuitry 52 in FIG. 5. Asan example, industrial vehicle startup conditions may be evaluated bythe interface controller 50 of the information linking device 38 orother suitable processor before allowing an industrial vehicle to bepowered up and fully functional for operation.

In an illustrative implementation where an industrial vehicle comprisesfor example, a forklift truck, the components of the information linkingdevice 38 may be coupled to and/or communicate with other industrialvehicle system components via a suitable industrial vehicle networksystem 68, e.g., a vehicle network bus. The industrial vehicle networksystem 68 is any wired or wireless network, bus or other communicationscapability that allows electronic components of an industrial vehicle tocommunicate with each other. As an example, the industrial vehiclenetwork system 68 may comprise one or more: controller area network(CAN) bus, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Local Interconnect Network (LIN),time-triggered data-bus protocol (TTP), Ethernet or other suitablecommunication strategy. As will be described more fully herein,utilization of the industrial vehicle network system 68 enablesintegration of the components of the information linking device 38 intothe native electronics including controllers of the industrial vehicleand optionally, any electronics peripherals associated with theindustrial vehicle that integrate with and can communicate over thenetwork system 68.

Thus, as an example, a processor provided on an industrial vehicle,e.g., as provided within the interface controller 50 or otherwiseintegrated into the industrial vehicle 12, may be configured towirelessly communicate with the industrial vehicle application server 14via the transceiver 46. Moreover, the information linking device 38 mayinteract with at least one component of the associated industrialvehicle 12, such as by communicating with at least one native electroniccontrol module 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82 of the industrial vehicle 12across the vehicle network system 68, e.g., a CAN bus.

In this regard, the connector 39 may be utilized to connect theinformation linking device 38 to various components coupled to themonitoring input/output module 48 and/or to the vehicle network system68, e.g., a CAN bus. As such, as will be described more fully herein,the information linking device 38 may be utilized as a bridge toexchange information with regard to various components of or otherwiseattached to the associated one of the industrial vehicles 12, and enablenative vehicle processes and features of a corresponding one of theindustrial vehicles 12 to process external to the industrial vehicle,e.g., to the industrial vehicle application server 14, remote server 30,or other device, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Integration is further achieved where event codes and othercommunications across the vehicle network system 68 are well understoodby the information linking device 38, thus enabling interaction betweenthe industrial vehicle application server 14, the information linkingdevice 38 and the corresponding one of the industrial vehicles 12, e.g.,at the machine component, subsystem, and system levels, as will bedescribed in greater detail herein.

Still further, according to further aspects of the present invention, anoptional secondary or alternative communication device may be utilized.By way of illustration, a secondary transceiver 84 may comprise acellular device capable of communicating independently of the wirelessinfrastructure of the corresponding computing environment 10 and/orenterprise 26. Although illustrated in FIG. 5 as part of the informationlinking device 38, the secondary transceiver 84 may alternatively beprovided as a separate component that couples to either the vehiclenetwork bus 68, e.g., a CAN bus, or the secondary transceiver 84 maycouple directly to the information linking device 38.

Referring briefly back to FIG. 1, as an alternative to equipping each ofthe industrial vehicles 12 with its own secondary communication device,the computing environment 10 and/or enterprise 26 may include asecondary communications device 86, such as a cellular router orgateway. In this regard, the industrial vehicles 12 may communicatewirelessly using the information linking device 38 as discussed above,e.g., using the normal wireless transceiver 46 and wireless protocol,such as an 802.11 b/g, etc. However, once a message has been received bythe wired network, the secondary communications device 86 mayselectively communicate the message via cellular network. Thiscapability combines the features of an always-on communicationtechnology, such as cellular, with the connectionless capabilities ofthe Internet. The use of a secondary communications device will bediscussed in greater detail herein.

Data Collection

The information linking device 38 may, from time to time, collectinformation about the associated one of the industrial vehicles 12, theindustrial vehicle operator and/or the environment of the industrialvehicle. Information may be collected, e.g., by reading the values fromconnected sensors 54, switches 56, encoders 58, impact sensors 60,meters 62 or other attached devices 64, e.g., which are coupled to theconnector 39 and/or the monitoring input/output module 48. Theinformation linking device 38 can also generate information that isreceived from the associated industrial vehicle network system 68, e.g.,a CAN bus.

The format of the data that is communicated across the industrialvehicle, whether such data is generated from dedicated sensors attachedto the industrial vehicle, or whether the information is communicated asnetwork traffic on a corresponding bus, such as the vehicle networksystem 68, may or may not be suitable or otherwise optimal for wirelesstransmission by the information linking device 38. Such data may or maynot also be suitable or optimally formatted for temporary storage by thememory of the interface controller 50 of the information linking device38. Still further, the industrial vehicle application server 14 or otherprocessing device in wireless data communication with the informationlinking device 38 may or may not require or be configured to handle alldata that the industrial vehicle is capable of generating.

In this regard, the information obtained by the information linkingdevice 38 may be temporarily stored, collected, maintained, manipulated,aggregated, summarized, encoded and/or otherwise processed, e.g., by theprocessor and corresponding memory in the interface controller 50 orother suitable processor and memory, which may be provided as part ofthe industrial vehicle electronics. Further, the collected informationmay be communicated to the industrial vehicle application server 14, forexample, using the transceiver 46. The information linking device 38 mayalso communicate information utilizing the secondary transceiver 84 toone or more data processing devices, such as a server associated withthe third party remote server 30.

As an illustrative example, the information linking device 38 maycollect raw vehicle data or data that is presented in its native form asit is communicated across the industrial vehicle Thus, the informationlinking device 38 may, from time to time, wirelessly transmit vehicleinformation, such as event codes or other information derived from thevehicle network system 68, e.g., raw data from the vehicle networksystem 68, to an associated destination, such as the industrial vehicleapplication server 14, the remote third party server 30, or othersuitable processing device.

As another illustrative example, the information linking device 38 cancollect, aggregate, manipulate, summarize or otherwise transformcollected data into logged data. Thus, collected information, e.g.,logged data may be organized into a specific subset of formatted datathat is required or otherwise desired by the associated industrialvehicle application server 14, the remote third party server 30, etc.Accordingly, the information linking device 38 may independently counttime intervals or otherwise compute hour meter information, e.g., tocompute log-on hours, or other specialized hour meters, collect and/orformat sensor data, etc. The transformed log data can subsequently becommunicated to an associated destination, such as the industrialvehicle application server 14, the remote third party server 30, orother suitable processing device.

The information linking device 38 may also collect, format and/orotherwise transform data related to industrial vehicle operation, whichis not per se generated by sensors or other components of the associatedone of the industrial vehicles 12. For example, the information linkingdevice 38 may enable or otherwise control operator log on sequences,display and record checklist operations, etc. In this regard, theinformation linking device 38 may be utilized as a control mechanism tolimit and/or selectively enable industrial vehicle startup, and topresent checklists for completion by the operator before extended use.The information linking device 38 may also serve as a data logger of theactivities where the information linking device 38 functions as acontroller.

Thus, the information linking device 38 may be used to facilitate thecoupling of data logging from an industrial vehicle to the industrialvehicle application server 14 or other wirelessly accessible dataprocessing device. As will be described in greater detail herein, thisapproach can be used to create a history of operational data that mayvary over time, such as vehicle speed, vehicle temperature, batterystate of charge, vehicle proprietary service codes, height, weight andother measurable parameters associated with the load carrying featuresof the industrial vehicle, operator information, etc.

Moreover, data can flow from the industrial vehicle application server14 and optionally, from the third party remote server 30 or otherauthorized processing device to the information linking device 38 viathe transceiver 46. Thus, as will be described in greater detail herein,an industrial vehicle may be configured to implement special processingbased upon parameters defined by the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14, e.g., to collect specifically requested or otherwisenon-standard types of data, to receive and implement commands, toreceive data from the industrial vehicle application server 14, tocollect or to convey different types of data based upon different modesof operation selected by the industrial vehicle application server 14,to require the vehicle to implement certain defined functions, etc.

According to further aspects of the present invention, there are timesthat may arise when specialized, vehicle specific or othernon-standardized data is required from one or more particular industrialvehicles 12. For example, it may be desirable for a remote softwareapplication to acquire information that the information linking device38 does not routinely communicate, e.g., to the industrial vehicleapplication server 14 as part of its normal data logging operations.

Industrial Vehicle Pulse

According to various aspects of the present invention, an industrialvehicle 12 is configured to internally transmit a cyclical recurringvehicle information message that encodes, encapsulates or otherwiseincludes a collection of parameters/data that represents or otherwisecharacterizes industrial vehicle information. The collection of data mayinclude, for example, event codes, component states, component statusinformation, hour meter readings, energy measurements, hydraulicmeasurements or other relevant data that is associated with acorresponding industrial vehicle 12.

According to various aspects of the present invention, the vehiclenetwork system 68 may comprise a CAN bus. In this regard, the vehicleinformation message is circulated through the CAN bus.

Referring to FIG. 6, a method 100 of dynamically generating industrialvehicle information for distribution on an industrial vehicle networkbus is illustrated. The method 100 comprises assigning a selectcomponent within an industrial vehicle as an information master at 102,where the information master is capable of data communication across anindustrial vehicle network bus, such as a CAN bus. The informationmaster obtains data from at least one other component of a correspondingindustrial vehicle that is connected to the industrial vehicle networkbus at 104 and stores industrial vehicle information based upon theobtained data in a memory device accessible by the information masteraccording to a mapping specified by a data object model at 106.

In this regard, the “industrial vehicle information” that is stored maycomprise the obtained data itself, or the information master may derive,create, transform or otherwise generate the industrial vehicleinformation based upon the obtained data, e.g., by aggregating,modifying, combining, summarizing or otherwise manipulating the obtaineddata, either alone or in combination with other information accessibleto the information master. Still further, the information master maycreate industrial vehicle information based upon knowledge obtained fromobtained data, e.g., to compute customized hour meters, to createstatistics or other information.

As used herein, the “data object model” refers generally to anyarrangement, whether conceptual, hard programmed, soft programmed orotherwise known by the information master for associating the storedinformation with the associated context, e.g., variable type, of thestored information. By way of illustration and not by way of limitation,the data object model may be utilized by the information master torecognize and/or distinguish a particular piece of industrial vehicleinformation, e.g., battery charge information, and correspondingly beable to store and retrieve the battery charge information from itsassociated memory location (which may be dynamically or staticallyallocated). As such, the information master “understands” at least theidentity of the variables that correspond to the industrial vehicleinformation stored in the memory.

As will be described in greater detail herein, the information managerbroadcasts, e.g., transmits, communicates or otherwise conveys, at leasta portion of the industrial vehicle information associated with the dataobject model. As such, at least a portion of the memory associated withthe data object model is designated at 108 as broadcast information. Inthis regard, the designation may be merely conceptual, e.g., as wherethe entirety of the industrial vehicle information associated with thedata object model is always broadcast, as described in greater detailherein. Alternatively, there may be times where something less than theentirety of the industrial information collected and stored according tothe data object model is desired to be broadcast. For example, there maybe certain operational modes, e.g., a service mode, where only certaintypes or variables of information are desired or otherwise required. Inother circumstances, there may not be a need to circulate every eventcode or other fine grained piece of information. As a few otherillustrative examples, where certain desired information is timesensitive, it may be desirable to delay, postpone or prevent thebroadcast of non-essential information. Many other exemplaryconfigurations may also/alternatively be implemented.

As noted above, the information master of the industrial vehicleinternally transmits a cyclical recurring vehicle information messagethat encodes, encapsulates or otherwise includes a collection ofparameters/data that represents or otherwise characterizes industrialvehicle information at 110. For example, the information master of theindustrial vehicle may repeatedly perform a cyclical operation thatincludes extracting at least a portion of the information stored in thememory designated as broadcast information by the information master,generating a broadcast message containing the extracted broadcastinformation and transmitting the generated broadcast message on theindustrial vehicle network bus. In this regard, the entire contents ofthe designated broadcast information are eventually transmitted on theindustrial vehicle network bus, typically across a plurality oftransmitted broadcast messages. Where the message is transmittedperiodically, e.g., at a preset or otherwise predetermined timeinterval, the message may be conceptually construed as a “pulse” or“vehicle information pulse”.

Exemplary Implementation of a Vehicle Information Pulse

A structure within the native electronics of a corresponding industrialvehicle, for example one of the industrial vehicles 12, may bedesignated as an “information” master. For example, any of the vehiclecontrol modules that are capable of communicating across the vehiclenetwork system 68 may be a possible candidate, e.g., any one of thedisplay control module 70, input/output control module 72, vehiclecontrol module 74, motor control module 76, hydraulics control module 78or other controllers 80, in the example of FIG. 5. The designatedinformation master in this exemplary configuration is programmed toperiodically transmit across the vehicle network system 68, an encodedrepresentation of industrial vehicle information. This transmittedindustrial vehicle data can be received by the information linkingdevice 38 because it also is connected to the vehicle network system 68.In this regard, any device that can “listen” for this “vehicleinformation pulse” can obtain and extract the associated vehicleinformation. For example, a service technician may be able to plug alaptop or other appropriate device into the vehicle network system 68and also retrieve the vehicle information by listening to the vehicleinformation pulse.

In the illustrative example, the vehicle network system 68 is a CAN bus.Since CAN supports the broadcast of messages, the information master cantransmit a message that the information linking device 38 can listen forto obtain the encoded representation of vehicle information. Theinformation linking device 38 can then forward the received informationto the industrial vehicle application server 14, the information linkingdevice can also and/or alternatively summarize, store, log or otherwiseprocess the received information.

According to further aspects of the present invention, each industrialvehicle may have a defined data object model that assigns or otherwisedefines types of information that is available across its vehiclenetwork system 68. Because different types/models of industrial vehicleswill likely generate different types of data, each industrial vehiclemay have its own data object model, or a data object model may be commonacross two or more industrial vehicles, e.g., with like models andfeature sets. The information master of a particular industrial vehicle,such as one of the industrial vehicles 12, may utilize knowledgeassociated with a corresponding data object model to multiplex some orall of the available information identified by the corresponding dataobject model, e.g., designated broadcast information, into a packetizedcommunication, e.g., a broadcast message, that is periodicallytransmitted/broadcast locally within the vehicle network system 68.

For example, referring to FIG. 7, one of the devices connected to thevehicle network system 68, e.g., any one of the display controller 70,input/output controller 72, vehicle control module 74, motor controlmodule 76, hydraulics control module 78 or other controllers 80 shown inthe example of FIG. 5, is designated the information master 120. Theremaining devices are generically labeled as network enabled modules122, but may comprise any of the remaining ones of the displaycontroller 70, input/output controller 72, vehicle control module 74,motor control module 76, hydraulics control module 78 or othercontrollers 80 shown in the example of FIG. 5.

The information master 120 collects and stores in memory, informationfrom the various network enabled modules 122 as specified by acorresponding data object model 124 using a corresponding data discoveryprocess at 126. To obtain the necessary information, the informationmaster 120 may query appropriate network enabled modules 122, thenetwork enabled modules 122 may, from time to time, transmit/broadcastthe necessary information to the information master 120, the informationmaster 120 may compute, derive, transform, summarize, aggregateindustrial vehicle information etc., as described above.

The information master 120 further organizes the vehicle informationaccording to the data object model 124, and creates a message at 128 andtransmits or otherwise broadcasts the message across the vehicle networksystem/vehicle bus at 130. In this regard, the information that isassociated with all (or part of) the data object model 124, i.e., thedesignated broadcast information, that is to be transmitted may be toolarge to transmit uninterrupted, either sequentially or serially withoutconsuming too much bandwidth on the vehicle bus. As such, datamultiplexing, etc., may be utilized to reduce each broadcast message toa manageable amount of data.

By way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, the data collectedby the information master 120, e.g., according to the data object model124 is conceptually organized into a data set, where the data setincludes the entirety of information to be circulated/broadcast but notnecessarily the entirety of the information available across the vehiclenetwork system 68. The data set may be further conceptually defined bysubsets of data, which may be organized based upon any desiredclassifications/categories. For example, each message may be organizedinto one or more message components, where each message component ispacked with data corresponding to an associated subset of data stored inmemory according to the data object model 124. As such, each broadcastmessage may include the data set, one or more data subsets, and/ormultiplexed portions of the data set, data subsets, etc.

The information master 120 may periodically transmit each broadcastmessage, e.g., based upon a predetermined time interval. To facilitatedata transmission, each message instance created at 130 includes asubset or an encoded subset of the information associated with the dataobject model 124. In this regard, a recipient such as the informationlinking device 38 may have to listen for multiple instances of thecreated and transmitted message in order to reconstruct the entirety ofthe data set corresponding to the designated broadcast information. Inthis regard, by listening and capturing an entire sequence of messages,a listening device can obtain all relevant industrial vehicleinformation that is provided by the information master 120.

Further, any number of trigger mechanisms may be utilized to designatewhen the information master 120 is to transmit the vehicle informationor multiplexed portion of the information. By way of illustration andnot by way of limitation, the information master 120 may be configuredto generate a new message based upon a reoccurring event, e.g., basedupon time. In this implementation, the information master 120 maytransmit a new message every X milliseconds or some other designatedperiod or interval.

Depending upon the particular industrial vehicle bus implementation, itmay be necessary or desirable to assign the information master 120 arelatively high or low priority on the bus. For example, in the CAN busprotocol, each node can have a priority assigned thereto. The CAN systemconveniently features an automatic “arbitration free” transmission. Thatis, a CAN message that is transmitted with highest priority will “win”the arbitration, and the node transmitting the lower priority messagewill sense that it is a subordinate and will wait to transmit anyinformation until the higher priority module has transmitted itsmessage. Thus, at a periodic time pulse, the information master 120 maybroadcast globally across the CAN bus, the next message containing CANbus information. Thus, by using multiplexing and/or encoding, thedesignated industrial vehicle information can be “circulated” or pulsedacross the associated CAN bus without exhausting the bus bandwidth.

As yet another illustrative example, a hand-shake operation may beperformed, where the information master 120 receives a request for amessage that contains vehicle information or a multiplexed portion ofvehicle information. Thus, the passing of information can be eventtriggered. For example, because the information master 120 knows thecontext of vehicle information and where it is stored in memory, theinformation master 120 may optionally be configured to respond toqueries or other suitably formatted requests for industrial vehicleinformation that is associated with the corresponding data object model.

As still another illustrative example, the information master 120 mayreceive a request for a particular piece of information, e.g., the valueof a variable defined by the data object model. In response thereto, theinformation master 120 can fetch the specifically requested informationand attach, embed, encode or otherwise incorporate the specificallyrequested information in one or more messages that are transmitted aspart of the vehicle information pulse.

Moreover, because the vehicle information pulse repeatedly refreshes thestate of industrial vehicle information of variables associated with thedata object model 124, the information linking device 38 attached to anindustrial vehicle 12 transmitting such a pulse can listen for thetransmission/broadcast of this message on the vehicle network system 68and can utilize the information in any number of ways.

By way of illustration and not by way of limitation, the informationlinking device 38 may decide to operate in a “live” mode or a “normal”,non-live mode at 134. If the information linking device 38 is operatingin the normal mode at 136, the information linking device 38 may utilizeinformation received in the messages over time to populate, aggregate,summarize or otherwise derive its own defined fields of information thatthe corresponding information linking device 38 routinely transmits tothe associated industrial vehicle application server 14. Thus, forexample, instead of independently calculating hour meter readings basedupon inputs 54-64, the information linking device 38 can utilize thehour meter information already provided in the native electronics of oneof the industrial vehicles 12 that is put onto the vehicle networksystem 68, e.g., a CAN bus, as part of a vehicle information pulse, toread, compute or otherwise derive the desired hour meter data.

Still further, the information linking device 38 can utilize the actualhour meter data within the native industrial vehicle information that istransmitted within the vehicle information pulse to generate customizedhour meters by manipulating the received information, performingaggregations, computations, filters, or other manipulations based uponprogrammed or customizable requirements. In this regard, various aspectsof the present invention are not limited to the collection of hour meterdata. Rather, any desired vehicle information that is associated withthe corresponding data object model 124 may be collected, aggregated,summarized, transformed, processed, or otherwise manipulated, e.g., toother data abstractions, by the information linking device 38.

Still further, the information linking device 38 can collect, aggregate,combine or otherwise integrate information obtained from the vehicleinformation pulse off the CAN bus, with information obtained from otherinputs, e.g., via the input/output module 48. The collected and loggeddata can then be transmitted to the associated industrial vehicleapplication server 14 as described more fully herein, e.g., according tothe routine protocol set forth for initiating communication between theindustrial vehicle application server 14 and a corresponding informationlinking device 38.

As another example, in “live” mode at 138, the information linkingdevice 38 can pass the received information read from the vehicleinformation pulse via its wireless capability to the industrial vehicleapplication server 14 or to some other application or server. Thus,according to various aspects of the present invention, in live mode, theinformation linking device 38 acts as a forwarding or bridging device byforwarding received vehicle information pulse messages from theinformation master 120 to the wireless infrastructure. In this regard,the server 14 or other device receiving the transmitted vehicleinformation pulse must be able to understand the information that ismultiplexed, encoded or otherwise incorporated into each transmittedmessage. Thus, for example, a software application that receives thevehicle information pulse messages wirelessly transmitted by theinformation linking device 38 may have access to a corresponding dataobject model to understand and reconstruct the received information.

If operating in live mode, the information linking device 38 maycontinue to log data in the background as it does for normal or non-livemode. However, in live mode, the information linking device 38 canfacilitate streaming of industrial vehicle CAN bus information as notedin greater detail herein. Once the information linking device 38 exitslive mode, it can dump the summarized, aggregated and otherwisecollected data as described more fully herein and in patent applicationSer. No. 11/956,022 (Published as U.S. 2008-0154712 A1) entitled “FleetManagement System”, filed Dec. 13, 2007, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. The present application also herebyincorporates by reference, patent application Ser. No. 11/956,045(Published as U.S. 2008-0154691 A1), entitled “Fleet Management System”filed Dec. 13, 2007, in its entirety. Still further, the presentapplication incorporates by reference, U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.61/166,494, entitled “INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES”, filedApr. 3, 2009, in its entirety.

Bi Directional Communication

According to various aspects of the present invention, a communicationsprotocol is provided, which allows queries to be submitted to aparticular information linking device 38 to ascertain specificinformation from a corresponding one of the industrial vehicles 12 thatmay not otherwise be routinely provided to the vehicle applicationserver 14. Depending upon the particular implementation, thecommunications protocol may even support ad-hoc queries to a particularindustrial vehicle 12. Still further, the approach facilitates thecommingling of standardized data communication with customizable and/orconfigurable requests for information.

According to various aspects of the present invention, bi-directionalIndustrial vehicle information communication may be implemented. In thisregard, the industrial vehicle application server 14 may send acommunication to a targeted one of the industrial vehicles 12. In thisregard, upon receiving the request, the information linking device 38may take an appropriate action, such as to forward the message out tothe vehicle network system 68, e.g., a CAN bus, to the informationmaster 120, or to take predetermined actions.

By way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, the informationlinking device 38 of a targeted one of the industrial vehicles 12 mayreceive a request from the industrial vehicle application server 14 fora specific piece of information, e.g., the value of a variableassociated with the corresponding data object model 124 of the targetedone of the industrial vehicles 12. The information linking device 38,acting as a bridge, may forward the request or otherwise communicate arequest to the information master 120 for the desired information. Theinformation master 120 may fetch the requested information from memoryand transmit the requested information to the information linking device38. Alternatively, the information master 120 may encode, embed, append,insert or otherwise include the requested information in one or morevehicle information pulse messages. In this regard, by listening for theinformation pulse messages, the information linking device 38 canextract the requested information and pass the requested informationback to the requesting device, e.g., the industrial vehicle applicationserver 14.

As another exemplary illustration, and not by way of limitation, theintegration of industrial vehicle information linking device 38 into thecontrol system of a corresponding one of the industrial vehicles 12 maybe used to facilitate “performance tuning” of the correspondingindustrial vehicle. A performance rating may be received from theindustrial vehicle applications server 14 for the operator logged ontothe corresponding materials handling vehicle. In response thereto,instructions may be communicated from the processor provided within theinterface controller 50 of the information linking device 38 orotherwise integrated into the corresponding materials handling vehicleto at least one component of the industrial vehicle across the vehiclenetwork system 68, e.g., a CAN bus, to selectively limit, disable orconfigure the performance of at least one feature based upon theperformance rating associated with that operator. Such commands may alsobe implemented by the information master 120 in response to a request bythe information linking device 38.

As another example, the industrial vehicle application server 14 maystore a list of authorized operators, which may also include alicense/certification management aspect that makes sure that eachoperator who is otherwise authorized to operate one of the industrialvehicles 12 maintains a valid and up to date operator's license.According to this aspect of the present invention, performance data isalso associated with each authorized user.

The implementation of “performance tuning” may be utilized as a way torank authorized and licensed/certified operators according to experienceand skill, and to adjust the operating characteristics of the industrialvehicle accordingly. As an authorized operator's performance rating isimproved, the industrial vehicle may unlock or otherwise enable advancedfeatures, modify features and industrial vehicle capabilities and/orotherwise adjust one or more operating characteristics to match thecapability of the operator. Correspondingly, the industrial vehicle maydisable advanced features, limit capabilities, and alter performancecapabilities, etc., for relatively lower ranked/skilled operators.

Miscellaneous Considerations

The various aspects of the present invention described herein, provide amessaging system that communicates industrial vehicle information in aunified format. In this regard, various applications ranging fromservice and/or maintenance diagnostics software and enterprisemanagement software can all derive value from the same data set that iscirculated or pulsed through the associated industrial vehicle.

Alternative Computing Environments

According to further aspects of the present invention, a remote servercomputer may query an information linking device 38 to obtain contextspecific industrial vehicle information. Referring to FIG. 8, a method140 of reading industrial vehicle information comprises selecting anindustrial vehicle for targeted interrogation at 142. As noted ingreater detail herein, the industrial vehicle application server 14 cancommunicate with select information linking devices 38 to associate aselected one of the industrial vehicles 12 with a corresponding dataobject model at 144. For example, the various industrial vehicles withina fleet may be organized by vehicle type, model year, software revision,etc. into one or more data object models. The industrial vehicleapplication server 14 utilizes the data object model to identify thedesired information necessary from the associated one of the industrialvehicles 12, and a request is communicated at 146 to obtain therequested information.

For example, the industrial vehicle application server 14 may require aspecific data value from a corresponding one of the industrial vehicles12, where the required data is information of a type that iscommunicated across the corresponding industrial vehicle bus, and whichis associated with the corresponding data object model 124. In anillustrative example, the information application server 14 knows thedata object model 124 associated with the industrial vehicle ofinterest. Thus, the industrial vehicle application server 14 may issue aquery or otherwise send a message to the information linking device 38on the associated industrial vehicle that includes the identification ofthe requested information, e.g., by specifying the memory address, acode or some other designation that identifies the requestedinformation. By way of illustration, the information linking device 38may request “packet 24”. The information linking device 38 and/or thecorresponding information master 120 understands “packet 24” andresolves the request to provide the requested information. For example,the information linking device 38 may request the information from theinformation master 120. The information master 120 may then communicatethe requested information to the information linking device 38. Theassociated industrial vehicle application server 14 receives therequested information from the associated information linking device 38at 148 and performs some process based upon the received information at150. According to various aspects of the present invention, the query tothe information master 120 can request any data that is addressed on theassociated data object model. Still further, as noted in greater detailherein, the information master 120 can communicate the requestedinformation via the vehicle information pulse, which can be read by theinformation linking device 38, then subsequently forwarded to theindustrial vehicle application server 14.

Alternative Exemplary Computing Environments

As noted in greater detail herein, numerous exemplary arrangements maybe implemented as an alternative to that disclosed in FIG. 1. In theillustrative example of FIG. 9, each one of the industrial vehicles 12includes an information linking device 38. The information linkingdevice 38 communicates, e.g., via 802.11 to a wireless router 22 thatincludes an integrated cellular link 86. The cellular link 86communicates, e.g., via a cellular provider, to the third party remoteserver 30. For example, a corresponding cellular link may be connectedto the third party server computer 30 such that the respective cellularrouters form a cellular modem. The cellular communicated data, e.g.,data derived from the corresponding vehicle information pulse, isconverted back to an appropriate network protocol, e.g., TCP/IP. Oncethe industrial vehicle data is received by the third party remote server30, the server can process the data and utilize the data for any numberof applications.

Referring to FIG. 10, an alternative exemplary system is illustrated.The system of FIG. 10 is substantially similar to that of FIG. 9.However, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the cellular link 86 is connectedinto the router 22. In this manner, the industrial vehicle is capable ofmaintaining cellular communication across multiple access points, thusproviding more flexible cellular range and coverage within the facilityin which the industrial vehicle is being operated.

Referring to FIG. 11, yet another alternative exemplary system isillustrated. The system of FIG. 11 is substantially similar to that ofFIG. 9. However, in the example of FIG. 11, the router 22 is alsoconnected to the network 32, e.g., the Internet, thus facilitating botha continuous connection/cellular-based connection path and aconnectionless/network-based communication path between the industrialvehicle and/or servers within the enterprise 26 associated with theindustrial vehicle and the corresponding third party remote server 30.

Referring to FIG. 12, yet another alternative arrangement isillustrated. The system of FIG. 12 is substantially similar to that ofFIG. 9. However, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the cellular link 86 at theenterprise is integrated into the information linking device 38 on theassociated one of the industrial vehicles 12. In this manner, theindustrial vehicle is capable of maintaining cellular communicationacross multiple access points, thus providing more flexible cellularrange and coverage within the facility in which the industrial vehicleis being operated.

For example, the remote third party server 30 may host a communicationserver that provides a service that allows a client, e.g., asillustrated by the laptop computing device 152, to execute a desktoptool that can connect with the information linking device 38 on any oneof the industrial vehicles 12 that can successfully negotiate cellularbandwidth. Thus, to commence cellular based communication, the targetindustrial vehicle must be capable of cellular communication, e.g., viaany of the configurations described more fully herein.

In an exemplary implementation, the cellular communication link iscreated between the desktop client via the communications server hostedby the third party remote server 30 and a corresponding one of theindustrial vehicles 12. The desktop software may implement a recordertool that is capable of capturing a window of data that encapsulates thecollection of industrial vehicle information. For example, by recordingone or more sequences of messages, e.g., using the live mode of theassociated information linking device 38 to capture vehicle informationpulse messages, a complete forensics record may be created. Moreover,enough data may be gathered to enable the desktop software to sample andthen replay the sampled data back through a desktop softwareapplication, off-line. Still further, the communications server may beconfigured to record event triggered data. In this regard, thecommunications server may access the collected industrial vehicleinformation, e.g., for running dashboards, for performing equipmenthealth monitoring, etc.

The communication server hosted on the third party server 30 may also beutilized to poll information linking devices 38 for periodic datacapture. The third party remote server 30 may also trigger workflowsbased upon processing the received data, e.g., as illustrated by theemailed daily report 180. Still further, the data may be manipulated,aggregated or otherwise processed. Such processed data may then becommunicated back out over the network such as the Internet to otherservers, e.g., back to an industrial vehicle application server 14associated with the industrial vehicle, to partners via an Extranet,etc. Thus, for instance, information may be communicated to a salesbranch, maintenance or service branch, etc., to respond proactively toissues detected based upon an analysis of the collected data.

Keeping with the above examples herein, the information linking device38 may collect information, e.g., event codes, component states, metervalues, etc., from the vehicle network system 68, e.g., a CAN bus, andcommunicate this information to the third party remote server 30. Thethird party remote server 30 may also and/or alternatively, query theinformation linking device 38 for specific information via the cellularconnection. Thus, for example, a service technician can interactivelyanalyze any one of the industrial vehicles 12.

Having thus described the invention of the present application in detailand by reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparentthat modifications and variations are possible without departing fromthe scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information system for an industrial vehicle,the system comprising: an information master on the industrial vehiclethat is programmably configured to collect data by communicating acrossa vehicle network bus of the industrial vehicle with at least one othercomponent of the industrial vehicle; and memory that stores industrialvehicle information according to a mapping specified by a data objectmodel, where the industrial vehicle information is based upon the datacollected by the information master; wherein: a processor on theindustrial vehicle is programmed to repeatedly perform a cyclicallyrecurring operation that: extracts at least a portion of the industrialvehicle information stored in the memory according to the mappingspecified by the data object model as broadcast information; generatesat least one broadcast message representing the extracted broadcastinformation; and transmits the generated at least one broadcast messageon the vehicle network bus; wherein an entire contents of the broadcastinformation are repeatedly transmitted across the vehicle network bus ina cyclically recurring manner.
 2. The information system according toclaim 1, wherein the information master comprises a network bus-enabledvehicle electronic control module.
 3. The information system accordingto claim 1, wherein the vehicle network bus comprises at least onecommunications strategy including controller area network (CAN) bus,ZigBee, Bluetooth, Local Interconnect Network (LIN), and time-triggereddata-bus protocol (TTP), and the processor is implemented in theinformation master.
 4. The information system according to claim 1,wherein: the vehicle network bus comprises a controller area network(CAN) bus; and the processor is implemented as the information master.5. The information system according to claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to transmit each generated broadcast message basedupon a predetermined periodic time interval.
 6. The information systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor transmits the generated atleast one broadcast message on the vehicle network bus by streaming thegenerated at least one broadcast message.
 7. The information systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the processor is further programmed to:set a periodic time interval; extract at least a portion of theindustrial vehicle information stored in the memory corresponding to theperiodic time interval; generate at least one broadcast messagecorresponding to the periodic time interval; and transmit the generatedat least one broadcast message corresponding to the periodic timeinterval.
 8. The information system according to claim 7, wherein theperiodic time interval is within a range of 1-999 milliseconds.
 9. Theinformation system according to claim 1, wherein the information masteris implemented as an information linking device that enables wirelesscommunication with a remote server.
 10. The information system accordingto claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: computeindustrial vehicle information from at least a portion of the obtaineddata; create statistics from at least a portion of the obtained data; ora combination thereof.
 11. The information system according to claim 1,wherein: an information linking device receives the broadcastinformation transmitted across the vehicle network bus; and theinformation linking device wirelessly transmits the broadcastinformation to a remote server.
 12. The information system according toclaim 1, wherein the information master obtains data by submitting aquery to at least one other component of the industrial vehicle acrossthe vehicle network bus.
 13. The information system according to claim1, wherein the information master obtains data by receiving data from atleast one other component of the industrial vehicle across the vehiclenetwork bus.
 14. The information system according to claim 1, wherein:the at least one broadcast message comprises a plurality of broadcastmessages; and a device connected to the vehicle network bus must receiveeach of the plurality of broadcast messages in order to reconstruct theentirety of the broadcast information.
 15. The information systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed tooperate in a select one of a live mode or a normal mode, wherein: whenoperating in the normal mode, an information linking device connected tothe vehicle network bus is programmed to: receive the cyclicallyrecurring transmission of the broadcast information; and log thereceived broadcast information; and when operating in the live mode, theinformation linking device is programmed to: receive the cyclicallyrecurring transmissions of the broadcast information; and wirelesslytransmit the received broadcast information to a remote server.